Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Episode 9: Homecoming

Sorry I missed the last couple of episodes. It’s been kinda crazed getting the show on the air lately as the time between shooting and air gets shorter and shorter.

Anyway… last night the cheerleader was finally saved… At least for now!

“Homecoming” is an episode I directed. All in all, I’m pretty proud of the episode and the way it came out. It looks and feels the way I wanted it to, I’m happy with all the performances and the tone and pace of the show. As always, it starts with script… In this case, Adam Armus and Kay Foster wrote a great one.

Milo Ventimiglia really stepped up as the hero of the show. His performance gets better and better with each episode. Hayden is great as always… It always feels to me that, whoever she’s in a scene with, I believe in the authenticity of the relationship. Also, Jack Coleman continues to be awesome. In this one, we show (I believe) that he is, in fact, a worried father. Whatever his overall assignment is, he genuinely loves Claire. I wonder if his love for her will eventually bring him into conflict with whoever he works for? I also wonder if whoever he works for knows that Claire has powers? I know I work on the show, but I legitimately don’t know the answers to things like that and I speculate along with you.

Today I guess I’ll talk about what my personal experience is from the time I first read the script through completing the episode. I thought I’d focus on 3 things… (1) the opening sequence at the school… (2) Sylar’s attack on Claire and Jackie and… (3) the fulfillment of Isaac’s paintings.

When I first get the first draft of a script I’m going to direct it’s very important that I get away from everybody and have the time to read it straight through without interruption. I don’t make any notes. I just read and try to pay attention to my emotional reaction. Ultimately everything we do is to convey/evoke an emotional response… it’s important to know what that response should be. Many times, during this first read, specific images or shot sequences pop into my head. I try to pay attention to them. Also, if anything isn’t working or doesn’t make sense I try to remember that. This first read is the most valuable and authentic experience I can have. In short order a lot of other people come into the mix with their own impressions and with lots of ideas of what is and what isn’t possible. If I don’t have a solid idea of what I think, I can, quickly, get swamped by what others think.

The next thing I do is re-read the script again. Ideally right then and there. But this time I make lots of notes. I break down each scene by location, time of day and page length. I make note of stunts, visual effects or things like rain or any other complexity. I also jot down any of the creative first impressions or script problems I have. A HEROES script is, roughly, 50 pages – I can usually get through this two-step process in about 2 hours. By the end of this process I have the script thoroughly in my head and I have a solid breakdown of all it’s elements.

TV is a game of attrition, so anything that stands out in a script as being difficult to do, expensive or time consuming will eventually get attacked. It’s important for me, at the very earliest stage, to decide what I want to fight for and what I’m willing to let go. When I produce for other directors, I attack. When I direct, I fight for. This is all very normal. Every idea and scene gets challenged and if any one of the various film-making partners is ever willing to let go of one (even under great duress) then it probably wasn’t necessary in the first place.

The Film and TV business has a high level of creative conflict – which can be very healthy or unhealthy depending on the environment. On HEROES the exec producers Tim Kring, Dennis Hammer and Allan Arkush make sure it’s healthy.

So… The three scenes I mentioned. The first is the opening of the show, the homecoming queen announcement at Claire’s high school. The original script had a different scene than what is currently in the show. It was a pep rally with the high school band playing. Claire and the other cheerleaders doing a routine, while all the jocks, freaks and geeks watched. It was then followed up by the principle standing on stage and announcing the homecoming queen.

Now I loved this sequence on the page. One of the things I love about HEROES is the many different tones that can work together in this show. This scene evoked for me kind of an AMERICAN BEAUTY vibe – Americana, hope, dreams, all tinged with melancholy and a vague kind of fear. I instantly knew how to shoot it. And whenever I have an instant sense of how to shoot something I (now) know it will turn out well… I was going to shoot everything in slow motion – creating very impressionistic images – starting on a pulsing shape that would later be revealed to be a pom pom. Then skirts…. Then shoes… then hands… then the crowd – the maniacal cheering faces of the jocks, the disinterested faces of the geeks. I would reveal ever more and slowly introduce Claire in the routine - determined yet somehow sad.

Anyhow, somewhere in prep, this scene got attacked. Too many extras would be needed, the marching band would be expensive, the choreography of the cheerleaders would take too long… I started to lose ground “I have a great plan, it’s going to turn out great” wasn’t enough – I couldn’t promise I could shoot it in less than half a day, and on those grounds the scene was cut and a simpler version (the one currently in the show) was conceived.

Now I’ve leaned through hard experience that to dwell on a loss, in this game, is useless -- I had to find a way to make the new scene as visually exciting as the other one had been. The new script that came out was a little different – somehow my emotional impression was of a more comedic/ironic scene - and less a tragic one. Kind of like the Lindsey Lohan movie, MEAN GIRLS… So I went with that, and came up with a new way to shoot the scene – playing a number of angles on a formation of cheerleaders moving to the lunchroom… Queens of all they survey.

It still took me a long time to shoot all the pieces I wanted, and I had to compensate by creating the idea of a long walk to where the principle is putting up the homecoming announcements. I knew that Hayden and Danielle Savre (Jackie) were solid enough actors that I could bank on getting the whole scene out in one shot – so I played most of their dialogue on a long steadicam shot. Ironically I shot probably 15 shots for the first page and 1 shot for a page and a half of dialogue…. Also, stedicam is not a tool we use much on HEROES, but it felt right to enhance the teen-comedy vibe I was going for.

The second scene I’d like to talk about is when Sylar kills Jackie in the locker room --- There was no controversy about this scene except that I had to do whatever I was going to do in two days. Basically I had twelve total hours spread out over two days . It had to be spread out because both girls are under 18 and can only work 10 hours a day and because we were shooting at a real locker room and we needed to stop before the football game.

I fell in love with this locker room, mostly because of the ceilings which I thought were very graphic. There was some pressure to build the locker room on stage – but I resisted this one because I knew it would never be big enough to get the West Texas vibe.

Now, going back to my first impression, when I read the script this scene read very brutally – like a slasher movie almost. Again one of the things I love about HEROES is the varied tones and I love that we don’t pull our punches, like many TV shows do. This scene needed to be horrific and disturbing – as much to establish the gravitas for Claire about what she’s up against as anything else - and that’s what I set out to do.

I did the whole scene hand held to give it an edgy vibe. I had the cameraman rush in at the action when Claire jumped on Sylar and whip pan on and off action just as an action was happening… all techniques to add a disturbing, disorienting feeling.

This is the kind of scene that needs a lot of cuts, all from the right angles, and which doesn’t take it’s final form until the editing room, when the right sound effects and music can be added. We went for big sound effects and eerie slow music. That plus a lot of blood and gore and a yucky creepy sequence is born!!!!

Yay!!!

Finally, this episode also fulfilled most of the paintings that were created in episode 4 and 5… i.e. the one that Peter and Isaac discuss in episode 5 that “Tell a story like a comic book.” They are: frightened Claire close up, Cheerleader running up the stairs, Sylar standing over the dead body of the cheerleader, locker door being hurled telepathically at Peter, Hiro and Ando standing under a bloody Homecoming banner.

The paintings which Tim Sale creates for the show happen in two ways – sometimes we film the event first and give Tim the frame we want to match to. Remember when Hiro and Ando stood under the rocket ship in Tokyo and looked at the exact same frame in the comic book. Well, we’d filmed the Hiro/Ando shot first and did the comic panel as an insert later. That way is way easier for all concerned.

But… the paintings in Isaac’s loft were a different story. Tim Kring and the writer’s gave Tim the idea of what they wanted and Tim painted the paintings in a vacuum, before we ever had sets or clear ideas of how we’d end up shooting the scenes.

Now it was time to re-create most of the paintings in the episode. I took this task to heart, knowing that if we could recreate the paintings as closely as possible HEROES would look like a cool-ass show that had been carefully planned from the very beginning. The first was the painting of Claire running up the stadium stairs – this one had already been done in episode 4 and my job was just to make sure we got back to the same angle and re-created the shot as closely as possible. The second was Sylar standing over Claire’s (actually Jackie’s) dead body. This one was really hard, because Tim had painted the image in an unnatural perspective with a HUGE Sylar standing over a tiny dead cheerleader. I tried my best. Put Sylar in the right position. Put the cheerleader in the right position. But couldn’t match the shadow or the scale. Finally had to match Peter having lockers thrown at him by Sylar’s force. At the time the writer’s conceived of this one and Tim Sale painted it – no one had any idea how it would play out – just that it was a cool painting. I had to vamp the space this happened it, but in the end it’s a pretty good match. The last painting, of Hiro and Ando standing under the bloody Homecoming banner was another challenge. When Mr. Sale painted it, no one had any idea that he was even going to make the banner bloody, much less how we’d accomplish it. This painting actually plays out in episode 11 – but we had to come up with a way to set it up in #9, which we did in the scene where Jackie gets murdered.

As a viewer, I get so involved in the story that I don't think about the technical aspects. Thank you for giving a director's perspective on what goes into making such an awesome show. This episode ROCKED! Monday nights can't come fast enough.

Just checking if this was a typo or a further hint to Sylar's powers: "locker door being hurled telepathically at Peter"

I would have expected "telekinetically" there instead of "telepathic". Sorry for the nitpick but if it's telepathic, then in theory Sylar just made Peter think the doors were coming at him and that opens up a lot of other possibilities.

Iam loving your blog, Beeman. A friend of mine turned to me the other day (we were having a marathon because Heroes is the type of show that needs to be shared.) And said "Y'know what I love about this show is that it looks and moves like Smallville used to move." (We were watchign 1.03 for refrerence." I attributed it all to you, obviously.

Loving the on set photos and the directorial notes. So insightful. Thank you for sharing it with us!

Is it Monday yet? Yours is the only show I watch on that day, and I can hardly wait until the next episode.

Thanks for updating your blog. I've missed your insight and photos. I love the show and love reading what you have to say about what goes on behind the scenes and what goes into a shoot. I loved the opening scene and think the way it ended up being filmed was great!

Hi Beeman, sorry to say this but I get episodes of Heroes off the Net, since from where I come from we usually screen new TV shows after a season plays in the U.S. (e.g Prison Break Season 1, when Season 2 started, Project Runway too)

We only get Survivor on time I think. So you can sort of understand my quandary.

I've no doubt our local television network (yes, we only have one) will pick up Heroes because of its awesomeness and its popularity in U.S, but being a lifetime comics freak I just couldn't wait.

This will be the first DVD collection I will buy and own, once we can buy it here in Singapore.

Thank you very, very much for being a part of something that has us comics fans throwing a fist in the air and going "YESSS!!!!" (my reaction when I first read about this series being screened).

I got my brother to watch the first episode and every Tuesday morning (timezone differences) he's asking me, "Have you got the new Heroes episode yet?"

Greg - Thanks for taking the time to update. Your posts add colour and insight to all the effort that goes into the final 42+ mins we fans see on screen. Kudos and keep it up! Here's hoping Heroes will live long and prosper ;)

PS - Jonah, hey there! We're in Singapore too. Just relocated here after 12 years in the US. Really miss the great TV programming back there.

Finally, the Beeman returns! I'd given up hope after episode 8 but you're back! As always I love reading your outtake on the behind the scenes working and what you're thought processes were for the episode you worked on.

I would like to point out one thing though, you're research on India seems to be lacking quite a bit.

A person from Chennai/Madras will never have a name like Mohinder, that's a northern Punjabi name. And in Chennai, there's absolutely no chance that you'll have hindi on the billboards because, well, they stay away from that language as much as the French don't like english. Instead, you'd definitely have Tamil, the local language, and/or english on the boards, but certainly not Hindi.

Now, I suppose its possible you have researched and decided that the images and names you used are easier for American audiences to relate to India, but if you haven't I'd just like to point this out.

Also, what an amazing age we live in that I can just speak to the director/producer of one of the shows I really enjoy, just like that.

Good going, and I'm very interested in what you have to say in response.

Hi, Thanks a lot for making this blog Mr beeman, and thanks for Heroes, is the best show, keep up the good work.You are making a lot of people from Spain Heroes´s Addicted :P.Please continue with the great technical job(cameras,scripts,effects), , which is teaching us so much,Thanks from a Young filmaker in Spain

Wow your blog is really interesting, and it's great to find some pics, many thanks.I like how you describe the process of fighting for a scene to be made and how you sometimes have to let go. About it, in the scene of the homecoming queen you're talking about, I smiled when I saw one of the geeks wearing a BS Galactica, was it on purpose?Hang on and please make it good from the begining to the end.Cheers !

Any comment on the promos that kept insisting that we'd find out what Save the Cheerleader, save the world meant? In fact the episode did not shed any light on the theme but instead revolved around the actual saving of the cheerleader.

wow i've only recently begun enjoying the show and i'm already hooked! and it's just cool to have a show that has everything in it - director's view, forum and comics to tie everything together. this is so innovative of you, Tim Kring and everyone who thought of this. - Grace (superheroprofiles.com)

Found your blog thanks to the guys at 10th Wonder podcast. Gonna be dullsville and say "ditto" to an absolutely awesome show. And thanks for taking the time to keep us posted on your blog. Keep it going!

I must say I really like the show... I'm a video/film production student at Ohio University and my roommate is a creative writing major/film minor and we both watch Heroes religiously while having long discussions about the show before and after.

I personally focus on cinematography and lighting at school and I am in awe at how 'cine' this TV show looks. It is great when TV shows achieve the look of a feature film over that of a sitcom. Not that sitcoms and such are bad, they have their place. But for a story like Heroes, it really needs that darker look common to narrative feature films.

I also really like the underlying message about the unchanging nature of destiny. Although, this isn't exactly a solidified message, yet. But that's a whole other discussion, isn't it?

This is the kind of thing I dream of doing when I graduate! This blog is a great learning tool about what I can expect to be doing in a few years.

It looks like Heroes is as fun to film as it is to watch. Thanks for the inside look at the show that has brought back my youthful exuberance for fangirling. Seemingly lost when I passed into my twenties, I'm glad the crazy has been kick-started back to life. Keep doing whatever it is you're doing that makes the magic happen and I'll be watching and encouraging others to do the same.

I love Heroes it is one of my favorite television shows of all time. But, I missed this episode cause I got in a fight with my mom and kinda ran away to my freinds and was to mad to watch it. So is there any way I can watch it on like the web or something, I tried NBC.com and because I dont live in the states or something I cant watch it.thanks Amber!

Delivering a new dimension for hardcore Maple Story players with the addition of a fourth job and some free maple mesos, this is launched today. Maple Story players will have reached a high enough level to achieve the 4th Job or some necessary maplestory mesos, which begins this week. Many people can cost their own cheap mesos to gain themed dessert and costumes among their many posts. The addition of the 4th Job provides further depth to an already intricate and complex maple story mesos in game. At Leafre, players find the new upgrades can receive from mesos and also party with other elite players.

Enter the necessary language translation, up to 200 bytes winter, moves frequently in China, tn chaussuresshowing that the deep strategy of the Chinese market. Harvard Business School, according to the relevant survey data show that in recent years the Chinese market three brands nike chaussures, Adidas, Li Ning market share at 21 percent, respectively, 20%, 17%. The brand is first-line to three lines of urban competition for mutual penetration. Side of the world, announced layoffs, nike tnwhile China's large-scale facilities fists. The sporting goods giant Nike's every move in the winter will be fully exposed its strategy. Years later, the Nike, Inc. announced the world's Fan

Converse shoes have great color! These shoes are perfect for walking around. Quite comfortable, good grip on wet surfaces.If you have an interest in this shoes, you can visit http://www.tgool.com/If you have an interest in it, you can contact us by email or MSN.Email:tgool@shopkiss.comMSN:joeyselina@hotmail.com

Charleston turned a pair of double plays to do the trick. The spyder jackets had at least one runner on in every inning but the first and outhit the RiverDogs by a 12-6 margin cheap columbia jackets.Lawal should be a focal point of the Yellow cheap polo shirts along with highly touted newcomer, 6-9 Derrick Favors, rated as the No. 1 power forward on the ESPNU 100. The Yellow Jackets

north face jackets,north face jacket. Here is a black The North Face Women's mountain jacket .

4) Women's Sky Blue The North Face Original Twinset Parka/Jacket

This is a style of sky blue The Women's North Face outdoor and mountaineering apparel .The North Face offers advanced fabrics and technologies for all-weather performance and protection during demanding outdoor action. The design adds darts at the elbow, allowing for easier arm movement and a full range of motion. The internal wind skirt effectively keeps snow and wind out.100% Omni-Tech!100% SATISFIDE YOU!

I am not really sure if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your great job is clearly identifed. I was wondering if you offer any subscription to your RSS feeds as I would be very interested and can't find any link to subscribe here I would love some feedback on my site virtual office space when you got time. Thanks.

I enjoyed reading your work! GREAT post! I looked around for this… but I found you! Anyway, would you mind if I threw up a backlink from my site?Please come visit my site small business payroll software when you got time. Thanks.

I usually don’t leave comments!!! Trust me! But I liked your blog…especially this post! Would you mind terribly if I put up a backlink from my site to your site? Please come visit my site advertising tv give me any valuable feedbacks.

There was this guy who believed very much in true love and decided to take his time to wait for his right girl to appear. He believed that there would definitely be someone special out there for him, but none came.Every year at Christmas, his ex-girlfriend would return from Vancouver to look him up. He was aware that she still held some hope of re-kindling the past romance with him. He did not wish to mislead her in any way. nike shoxsSo he would always get one of his girl friends to pose as his steady whenever she came back. That went on for several years and each year, the guy would get a different girl to pose as his romantic interest. So whenever the ex-girlfriend came to visit him, she would be led into believing that it was all over between her and the guy. nike womens shoes The girl took all those rather well, often trying to casually tease him about his different girlfriends, or so, as it seemed! In fact, the girl often wept in secret whenever she saw him with another girl, but she was too proud to admit it. Still, every Christmas, she returned, hoping to re-kindle some form of romance. But each time, she returned to Vancouver feeling disappointed.Finally she decided that she could not play that game any longer. puma mens shoes Therefore, she confronted him and professed that after all those years, he was still the only man that she had ever loved. mens puma shoesAlthough the guy knew of her feelings for him, he was still taken back and have never expected her to react that way. He always thought that she would slowly forget about him over time and come to terms that it was all over between them. nike shox Although he was touched by her undying love for him and wanted so much to accept her again, he remembered why he rejected her in the first place-she was not the one he wanted. nike 360 air maxSo he hardened his heart and turned her down cruelly. nike running shoesSince then, three years have passed and the girl never return anymore. They never even wrote to each other. NIKE air shoes The guy went on with his life..... still searching for the one but somehow deep inside him, he missed the girl.On the Christmas of 1995, he went to his friend's party alone. "Hey, how come all alone this year? Where are all your girlfriends? What happened to that Vancouver babe who joins you every Christmas?", asked one of his friend.nike air max He felt warm and comforted by his friend's queries about her, still he just surged on.Then, he came upon one of his many girlfriends whom he once requested to pose as his steady. He wanted so much to ignore her ..... not that he was impolite,wholesale nike shoes but because at that moment, he just didn't feel comfortable with those girlfriends anymore. nike shox torchIt was almost like he was being judged by them. The girl saw him and shouted across the floor for him. Unable to avoid her, he went up to acknowledge her."Hi......how are you? Enjoying the party?" the girl asked."Sure.....yeah!", he replied.She was slightly tipsy..... must be from the whiskey on her hand.

Your article is very good.I like it very much.Once upon a time, there was a mouse father.He wanted to marry his daughter to the greatest person in the world.But, who was the greatest person in the world?Oh! puma ferrari shoescheap nike shoesThe sun! He must be the greatest person in the world.The mouse father went to talk to the sun."Hello! Mr. Sun. puma shoesferrari shoesI know you are the greatest person in the world.Would you marry my daughter?""What? I'm not the greatest person in the world. The greatest person is the cloud.If he comes out, I’ll be covered."nike shox nzUgg BootsThe mouse father went to talk to the cloud. “Hello! Mr. Cloud. I know you are the greatest person in the world. Would you marry my daughter?” nike 360 air maxnike shox shoes“What? I’m not the greatest person in the world. The greatest person is the wind.If he comes out, I’ll be blown away.”cheap puma shoespuma drift catThe mouse father went to talk to the wind. “Hello! Mr. Wind. I know you are the greatest person in the world.Would you marry my daughter?” “What? I’m not the greatest person in the world. The greatest person is the wall. If he comes out, I’ll be stopped.”cheap nike shoxnike air max 360The mouse father went to talk to the wall. “Hello! Mr. Wall. I know you are the greatest person in the world. Would you marry my daughter?” “What? I’m not the greatest person in the world. The greatest person is YOU, the mouse.” “The greatest person in the world is … mouse?” “Yes, the greatest person in the world is mouse. See? If mouse comes out, I’ll be bit!” nike air maxpumas shoesThe mouse father was very happy. He finally knew mouse was the greatest person in the world. He would marry his daughter to the handsome mouse next door.

It normally bugs me when people have a blog and they can’t keep it updated, but in your case, I don’t mind. “Heroes” is by far the best new show in three years. Thanks for taking the time to do it istoç